Govt has adhered to fiscal discipline: FM

FM URGED INDUSTRY TO SEND REQUESTS FOR RAISING OR REDUCING GST TO THE GST COUNCIL FOR ITS CONSIDERATION

NEWDELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday asked the industry to send requests for raising or reducing goods and services taxes (GST) through finance ministries of respective states to the GST Council for its consideration, according to the government’s public relations agency.

Sitharaman, in her budget speech on February 1, hinted at an imminent rationalisation of the GST rates. The finance minister, in Kolkata on February 9, also said GST rates should not be tweaked frequently and hinted at the need for rate rationalisation exercise to be undertaken once a year.

“FM (finance minister) directed GST state officials to go to every district headquarters to clarify the doubts on GST to trades and business entities. FM informed that commissioner will be fully empowered to solve GST issued in districts,” the Hyderabad office of the Press Information Bureau tweeted on Sunday.

Addressing the industry in Hyderabad, Sitharaman said: “I don’t want any more doubts on GST. April 1 onwards we are bringing a simplified compliance regime for the GST and that has already been final-tested. So GST glitches because of the system will be completely addressed.”

In a unique post-budget exercise, the finance minister, along with top finance ministry bureaucrats, is travelling across the country to explain provisions of the Budget 2020-21. So far, she has been to Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata and is scheduled to visit Bengaluru on Monday, a finance ministry official said.

At the meeting, Sitharaman said the budget was prepared keeping the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) in mind and the government adhered to the fiscal discipline. “So, in a way all these (measures) and more has been done... the FRBM, as an Act, we have to keep in mind and also comply with it. So we have not really breached the FRBM,” she said.

“We estimate a fiscal deficit of 3.8% (of the gross domestic product) in RE (revised estimate) FY20 and 3.5% for BE (budget estimate) FY21. This estimation is consistent with government’s abiding commitment to macroeconomic stability. The revised target of fiscal deficit is now 3.8% of GDP in 2019-20 compared to the budgeted level of 3.3%.”

In her budget speech, Sitharaman said a deviation of 0.5% was consistent with the FRBM Act, which provides for a trigger mechanism for a deviation from the estimated fiscal deficit on account of structural reforms in the economy.

Replying to query, she said the government is trying to reduce the dependence of the pharma industry on API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient).

contributed to this story.